We have had an eventful month so far. With only one week remaining, I have more news to write about than I care to write--especially since it is not all good news. But, news is news!
Rick turned 34 this month. We were expecting a busy day on his birthday, so we celebrated on the previous Sunday. The kids made him some thoughtful gifts including cards, poems, and coupons for "big bear hugs." I think he had a nice day.
It's a good thing we celebrated on Sunday because his actual birthday turned out even busier than I had expected. I had already planned to go grocery shopping in the morning, get some laundry done, clean up the house a bit, help the kids with homework, make dinner, take Ricky to baseball, and then head off to a Relief Society meeting at the church. But, even from the morning, things didn't turn out as planned.
About five minutes before we were due to walk to school, I heard Emily frantically yelling at me from upstairs about something I needed to look at right away. She was helping Makayla with her hair and noticed "a bug trying to crawl into her neck." Yikes!!
Sure enough, Makayla had a tick at the nape of her neck. Although I have extensive experience with some common childhood medical maladies, tick picking is not on my resume. In fact, I have never seen a tick in person, and let me tell you, they are creepy!! I did my best to keep calm with Emily freaking out. I tried to remove the tick with tweezers, but just couldn't do it before having to get the kids to school. Emily was kind of a mess, so I decided the best option was to get the other kids to school and take Makayla to the doctor.
Sure enough, the Makayla had a deer tick--the kind that carry Lyme Disease. We know all about Lyme Disease from the fateful summer of 2009 when Ricky had three months "hives" and walked like an old man with severe arthritis before he was finally treated for what he actually had--Lyme Disease. The doctor removed the offending parasite and gave Makayla prescription for antibiotics. I got her back to school around lunch time.
If that was the end of our extraordinary circumstances that day, I would be able to say that Rick's actual birthday was not too bad. However, many of you know what happened later that afternoon . . .
Makayla came home from her friend's house with a pale face and misshapen wrist. She had been riding her friend's scooter and hit a bump the the sidewalk. The scooter stopped, but Makayla didn't. Over the last week, Makayla has simplified the story: "Bump, thump, ow!"
Her 5 p.m. injury required a visit to the ER. Rick was gracious enough to take her while I ran around with the other kids. After an examination, x-rays, casting, and more x-rays, they weren't home until about 11:30. She had broken her radius and fractured her ulna.
If the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics flounder with the lack of funds, it most certainly won't be from the lack of patronage from the Mergenthaler family!
The first few days after the break were rough, but Makayla is doing much better. She'll be in the long cast for about a month and then a short cast for a couple of weeks after that. She should heal well given enough time.
We received a package from Grandma Mergenthaler yesterday. The kids were so excited!! In the package, we found colored eggs for each child. I saw this as a great opportunity to have a mini Easter egg hunt. The kids enjoyed it. Sean, however, could care less about the eggs--he was only interested happily filling his Easter basket with dirt from the garden.
I took a picture of the kids holding up their Easter baskets with their eggs. Sean is holding up the dirt he found.
Sean would not stay put for long. After one picture, he promptly crawled into the garden to get to work.
He finally realized that his orange Easter egg was good for something--holding dirt!! See the candy, thrown aside in the following picture?
He spent at least 5 happy minutes filling his Easter egg with dirt. Maybe he will be a gardener like Andrew. Between the two of them, I'm sure I will have more than enough help in the garden this year!
Rick turned 34 this month. We were expecting a busy day on his birthday, so we celebrated on the previous Sunday. The kids made him some thoughtful gifts including cards, poems, and coupons for "big bear hugs." I think he had a nice day.
About five minutes before we were due to walk to school, I heard Emily frantically yelling at me from upstairs about something I needed to look at right away. She was helping Makayla with her hair and noticed "a bug trying to crawl into her neck." Yikes!!
Sure enough, Makayla had a tick at the nape of her neck. Although I have extensive experience with some common childhood medical maladies, tick picking is not on my resume. In fact, I have never seen a tick in person, and let me tell you, they are creepy!! I did my best to keep calm with Emily freaking out. I tried to remove the tick with tweezers, but just couldn't do it before having to get the kids to school. Emily was kind of a mess, so I decided the best option was to get the other kids to school and take Makayla to the doctor.
Sure enough, the Makayla had a deer tick--the kind that carry Lyme Disease. We know all about Lyme Disease from the fateful summer of 2009 when Ricky had three months "hives" and walked like an old man with severe arthritis before he was finally treated for what he actually had--Lyme Disease. The doctor removed the offending parasite and gave Makayla prescription for antibiotics. I got her back to school around lunch time.
If that was the end of our extraordinary circumstances that day, I would be able to say that Rick's actual birthday was not too bad. However, many of you know what happened later that afternoon . . .
Makayla came home from her friend's house with a pale face and misshapen wrist. She had been riding her friend's scooter and hit a bump the the sidewalk. The scooter stopped, but Makayla didn't. Over the last week, Makayla has simplified the story: "Bump, thump, ow!"
Her 5 p.m. injury required a visit to the ER. Rick was gracious enough to take her while I ran around with the other kids. After an examination, x-rays, casting, and more x-rays, they weren't home until about 11:30. She had broken her radius and fractured her ulna.
The first few days after the break were rough, but Makayla is doing much better. She'll be in the long cast for about a month and then a short cast for a couple of weeks after that. She should heal well given enough time.
We received a package from Grandma Mergenthaler yesterday. The kids were so excited!! In the package, we found colored eggs for each child. I saw this as a great opportunity to have a mini Easter egg hunt. The kids enjoyed it. Sean, however, could care less about the eggs--he was only interested happily filling his Easter basket with dirt from the garden.
Comments